President Trump on Thursday said military action “would certainly be an option” against North Korea as it continues to test nuclear devices and long-range missiles.
“Military action would certainly be an option. Would it be inevitable? Nothing is inevitable,” Trump said during a joint news conference in the White House with Kuwait’s emir Amir al-Sabah.
“It would be great if something else could be worked out.”
The president said North Korea’s military ambitions have bedeviled other administrations.
“Presidents for 25 years now have been talking, talking and talking,” he said. “I would prefer not going the route of the military, but it’s something that could happen.”
“I can tell you that North Korea’s behaving badly and it’s got to stop,” he added.
He also said the US has been bolstering its military and it’s now stronger than it has been for years.
If the US resorts to military force, he said “it will be a very sad day for North Korea.”
President Kim Jong Un’s regime conducted a successful test of a nuclear device on Sunday.
And in July it test-fired two intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of hitting the US mainland.
On Monday, Trump said “we’ll see” when asked if the US would use military force against Kim’s government.